Heritage Square buildings in Golden available to purchase, move

Golden's Historic Preservation Board gives public until February to salvage park's buildings

Some damage is visible on one of the Victorian Village buildings at Heritage Square on Dec. 2 in Golden. Local history groups want to salvage what they can of the village before property owner Martin Marietta begins its demolition process in the spring. (Anya Semenoff, YourHub)

GOLDEN —The public will have until the end of February to salvage what it can from the history and nostalgia that is Heritage Square in Golden.

It is a consolation for local history groups Golden Landmarks Association and Jefferson County Historical Commission, which wanted to see some buildings preserved.

"It's got a fighting chance — let's see what we could do," said Richard Gardner, a Golden historian and member of both groups.

The closure of Heritage Square was announced last February by property owner Martin Marietta, which plans to develop the land. Since seven of Heritage Square's Victorian-style buildings are more than 50 years old and nonresidential, their demolition went before the Historic Preservation Board for review.

The buildings were part of Magic Mountain, the original theme park built at the site beginning in 1958 by architects who also worked on Disneyland's Main Street USA. It was going to be a Western frontier theme park, but it was never fully finished and shut down by 1960 due to financial trouble.

The "storybook" style of the buildings is a whimsical, fairy-tale style inspired by Hollywood in the 1920s. The Heritage Square building designs used optical illusions that make the street seem longer and the buildings taller than they actually are, said Joe Saldibar, architectural services manager for History Colorado.

Saldibar said that Heritage Square was examined as a candidate for historic status in the early 2000s, but had not yet hit the 50-year mark, which is a typical guideline.

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"But it had potential," he said. "Mostly because of the significance behind it as one of the first attempts to copy the success of Disney."

Martin Marietta first went to the board in September and solicited interested parties to take pieces of Heritage Square. The only interest came from the Colorado Railroad Museum, which relocated the decorative streetlights to its property. A historic chapel on the property also will be relocated somewhere within the county.

Martin Marietta already spent around $30,000 on its own historical assessment through Golden-based Ewers Architecture, said David Hagerman, regional vice president of the company's aggregates division, who helps manage the site. During the assessment, more than 20,000 photos were collected and will be handed over to Golden History Museums or anyone else who wants them.

What's left the owner perceives as little more than deteriorating buildings that would cost more than they are worth to preserve.

"The historic structures of Heritage Square are among the historical crown jewels of this region," Gardner said.

The buildings will be demolished after the public has been given the chance to purchase them and take them off site according to the resolution passed by Golden's Historic Preservation Board on Dec. 7.

"I think the opportunity to move buildings, the opportunity to give things away, perhaps could be better publicized to see if there's anyone out there who gets interested," said Dixie Termin, the board's chairwoman.

Anyone who wishes to take any of the buildings will have to pay for all associated costs, including any remediation for lead paint and asbestos removal.

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